{UAH} Philippine militant group frees Norwegian hostage
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Frank Mujabi/Edward Irundua Mwuilanda,
This Norwegian hostage was released after the Norway government paid a reported $100 million dollars to the terrorist Abu Sayaff group. When I wrote about the fate of these hostages taken by the Islamic Group in May, the Nubian fart said I was silly and did not know what I was talking about. He warned me not to talk about "national security" issues and claimed that the government of Canada knew what it was doing. Abu Sayaff had taken 5 hostgaes, including Canadian citizens and threatened to behead them if ransom was not paid. The Canadian boy Trudeau refused to negotiate with Abu Sayyaf, and as a consequence the two Canadians John Risdell and Robert Hall were beheaded and their severed heads left in hanging in plastic bags on tree in the forests of Sulu Island. perhaps Edward Irundrua and the boy Trudeau should have heeded my advice. Abu Sayyaf is the most dangerous Islamic terror group in the world. I have met some of their leaders face to face to ask them to explain why they detonated bombs in a shopping mall in Iligan City which nearly killed my own daughter. They were not apologetic that many people had died from the atrocity and were in fact very proud of what they had done. Maybe the two Canadians would be alive today if Canada had listened to advice.
Bobby
Philippine militant group frees Norwegian hostage
Kjartan Sekkingstad appears in a video originally released by Abu Sayyaf in May 2016, months after Sekkingstad's capture by the Islamist militant group. Also appearing in the video was Canadian, Robert Hall, whom ISIS later beheaded, according to the Philippines government.
Story highlights
- Kjartan Sekkingstad was abducted from a resort last year
- Two fellow hostages were killed and a third was released
(CNN)A Norwegian man held captive for almost a year by a militant Islamist group in the Philippines was freed Saturday, according to CNN Philippines and the state-run Philippines News Agency (PNA).
Abu Sayyaf released Kjartan Sekkingstad at 4 p.m. (4 a.m. ET), according to Western Mindanao Command spokesman Maj. Filemon Tan Jr.
Sekkingstad's release was an offshoot of ongoing military operations against the Abu Sayyaf group, Tan told CNN Philippines. The Moro National Liberation Front, which is in peace talks with the government, assisted authorities in the operation, he said.
"Simultaneous land, air, naval and police operations complemented each other putting pressure on (Abu Sayyaf)," Tan said.
It is unclear whether a ransom was paid to secure Sekkingstad's release.
Sekkingstad was abducted from a resort on Samal Island, which lies off the coast of the major southern island of Mindanao, on September 21, 2015.
Three people were kidnapped with him: Canadians John Ridsdel and Robert Hall, and Filipina Tess Flor. Hall, Ridsdel and Flor were visiting the resort's marina on their yacht and Sekkingstad was the manager of the property.
Abu Sayyaf initially demanded a $6.3 million ransom for each of the victims to be paid by April 25, according to Philippine state media.
In March a jarring video surfaced, showing the four pleading for their lives.
In April, after murdering Canadian hostage Ridsdel, the group reset the deadline to June 13 for the remaining three hostages.
A video obtained in May by SITE, a group that monitors extremist and terrorist groups, showed three hostages surrounded by six armed militants.
Abu Sayyaf beheaded the other Canadian, Hall, in June.
Flor was released June 24, less than a week before Rodrigo Duterte officially assumed the presidency. He presented Flor to the public during a police turnover ceremony in Davao.
CNN Philippines reported that Sekkingstad spoke by telephone with Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza after his release and in his first words thanked Duterte.
Dureza said he would present Sekkingstad to Duterte Sunday.
Abu Sayyaf is headquartered in the restive Muslim-majority province of Mindanao in the country's far south. The violent extremist group split from established Philippines separatist movement Moro National Liberation Front in 1991.
The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, but the south has historically had a large Muslim population. Abu Sayyaf's stated aim is to establish an independent Islamic state on the southern island of Mindanao.
The group first became active in the early 1990s and was responsible for bombings across the southern Philippines and in the Malaysian state of Sabah.
Following the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Washington worked hard with the Philippine military to stop the group's activities.
Largely weakened by these attacks, Abu Sayyaf started to move from large-scale bombings to kidnappings.
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